If you want to move your path, align multiple paths, or move only part of your path, you should try out the Path Selection tools.

 

 

This tool group is located just to the left of the Type tools in the Photoshop toolbox. If you choose the Path Selection Tool, you can click on an existing path and move it anywhere around your canvas by mouse dragging and dropping it. You can also draw a box around your path with the path selection tool to select it. When your path is selected you will see small boxes appear around the path outline. This is how you know that it is ready to be moved.

 

If you have multiple paths on the same layer, you can use the path selection tool to draw a box around all or some of them by dragging your mouse pointer. When you do this, each of the paths that you drew a box around will be selected. Once you see the small boxes indicating that the paths have been selected, you can drag one of the paths, and the rest will move along in unison, keeping the same configuration.

 

You will notice that there is a series of 12 alignment buttons in the options bar when you choose the path selection tool. If you have multiple paths on the same layer, and you draw a box around them with the path selection tool, you can use these alignment buttons to align (or justify if you prefer) the separate paths.

 

 

If you select the multiple paths by drawing a box around them with the path selection tool, you can click on the alignment buttons in the option bar to align them in different ways (i.e. align top edges, align along center, align bottom edges, and so on).

 

The following screen shot shows the same three shapes after selecting them and using the Align Top Edges button:

 

 

Notice how the shapes have been aligned so that their top edges are even.

 

The path selection tool can be used to select any path drawn by the pen tools or by the shape tools.

 

 

The other path selection tool available in this tool group is called the direct selection tool (looks like a white arrow head). When you choose this tool from the toolbox, you can click on a segment or a part of a path or shape, and then move the segment or reshape the path by dragging the segment. Clicking on a path or shape with this tool will also reveal anchor points that you can drag to modify the given path or shape.

 

If you look at the Layers palette, you will see a Paths tab at the right. Clicking on this tab will display the Paths palette. When you create a path, it will be called the work path in the paths palette.

 

The paths palette can be used to manage your paths by helping you to save them, make selections from them, delete them, and more.

 

The small arrow at the right of the paths palette will reveal several options for working with the selected (highlighted in blue) path.

 

To save the work path, click the arrow at the right of the palette and choose Save Path. This will display a box where you can enter a name for the path. Alternatively, you can save a path by double clicking the name of the path, and renaming it. When you close the image or canvas you are working with and re open it, you will see the paths that were saved restored to the paths palette.

 

To delete a path, drag it to the trash can, or select the path (highlight it in blue), and then click the trash can icon.